Use of antibiotics has been found to have negative effects on broiler health and its production therefore; there is a need for supplementation of herbal ingredients in broiler feed. An experiment was conducted on herbal dietary supplementation of Shatavari (Asparagus racemosus) and Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) root powder to study its effect on growth performance in caged broilers. A total of 48 day old broiler chicks of same hatch were procured and randomly divided into four groups with three sub groups comprising of 3 chicks in each to serve as replicates T0 (control) had standard ration as per NRC; T1 ration was supplemented with 5g Shatavari root powder /kg feed; T2 ration was supplemented with 5g Ashawagandha powder /kg feed and T3 ration was supplemented with 2.5g Shatavari +2.5g Ashawagandha powder/ kg feed. The birds were reared in battery type cages under standard managemental practices from day-old to five weeks of age. Statistically analyzed data shown that the average body weight gain, final body weight, and feed intake was significantly (p<0.05) highest in T3 group followed by T2, T0 and T1 group. Overall FCR suggested that supplementation of these feed additives did not negatively affect the FCR of caged broiler chicks. From this study it can be concluded that caged broilers supplemented with 2.5g Shatavari + 2.5g Ashawagandha powder/ kg feed may perform well in caged conditions without having negative impact on FCR of caged broiler chicks.

Highlights

• We studied the effects of two herbals for their individual and in combination effect on broilers.
• Herbal supplemented groups performed better in terms of body weight gain.
• There was no adverse effect on the FCR of caged broilers.